Leeds Midfielder to join Ipswich

Leeds midfielder Paul Green is reported to be in talks with Ipswich regarding a loan move. Republic of Ireland international Green is out of favour at Elland Road and hasn’t played a first team game for the Whites since October. Green, 30, was previously linked with Ipswich during Paul Jewell’s time as boss, the former Town manager having signed him during his spell at Derby. Green started his career with Doncaster Rovers, joined Derby on a free transfer in the summer of 2008 and then moved on to Leeds in June 2012. He has been capped 20 times by Ireland, scoring once. Green has made 42 starts and four sub appearances during his time with Leeds, scoring four goals, one in last season's 2-0 defeat of Ipswich at Elland Road.

Derby 3-1 Leeds

Derby halted Leeds' revival and stretched their unbeaten home run in the Championship to seven matches thanks to second-half goals from Jake Buxton and Ben Davies. Defender Buxton deflected home a shot from fellow defender Richard Keogh in the 66th minute with the score at 1-1 and Derby withstood a late barrage before substitute Davies finished superbly on the break in the fourth minute of time added on. Leeds midfielder Paul Green cancelled out Conor Sammon's 15th-minute opener for Derby on the stroke of half-time and after Buxton's close-range effort the home side held on with Davies rubber-stamping their sixth league win of the season at Pride Park.Leeds, who had won their previous three matches, hit the post via Tom Lees' late header and will feel aggrieved not to have been awarded a last-minute penalty when Green went tumbling under a challenge from Will Hughes. Derby, unchanged from the side that lost 4-1 at Leicester last week, took the lead when Hughes pulled the ball back across the face of goal from the left into the path of Sammon, who drove home a low shot from 12 yards for his fifth goal of the season. Leeds goalkeeper Paddy Kenny pulled off a fine fingertip save to keep out Theo Robinson's snapshot from close range in the 24th minute and denied the same player from 30 yards soon after as Derby took control. Leeds, who recalled winger Ryan Hall in place of the injured Jerome Thomas, did not threaten Adam Legzdins in the Derby goal again until midfielder Michael Tonge's 25-yard effort, which was blocked by Derby defender Richard Keogh in the 36th minute. But the visitors went in level at the break thanks to Green's strike against his former club on the stroke of half-time. Leeds striker Luciano Becchio played the ball inside the penalty area and Green applied a neat low finish into the bottom corner. Leeds pegged the hosts back in their own half after the restart. McCormack's shot from inside the area was well held by Legzdins and the Scot pulled another effort from a similar position wide. Derby midfielder Michael Jacobs then acrobatically kept out Hall's goalbound shot at the other end.Derby midfielder Hughes tricked his way into the area before unleashing a shot destined for the top corner, only for Kenny to save at full stretch. Robinson's goalbound header was blocked by Leeds defender Lees, but the visitors failed to clear the resulting corner and Keogh's low shot was sidefooted home by Buxton. Leeds went close to a rapid equaliser when David Norris connected sweetly with the ball from 20 yards, but Legzdins was equal to it, and when Lees beat the Rams keeper with a header from substitute El-Hadji Diouf's superb cross, the ball came back off the inside of the post and was hacked clear. Diouf's thumping drive from 20 yards then whistled past the post as Leeds pushed for an equaliser before Davies, an 82nd-minute replacement for Robinson, curled home a fine 94th-minute effort for Derby after a swift counter-attack.

Leeds United 2-1 Crystal Palace

Neil Warnock praised his new loan signings as Leeds United beat Championship leaders Crystal Place. Leeds won 2-1 thanks to goals from Luciano Becchio and Paul Green and although Peter Ramage scored for Palace with a powerful header, the Londoners lost for the first time in 16 matches, as they were knocked off the top of the npower Championship table by Cardiff. Leeds were determined to impress their new owners, with loan signings Alan Tate and Jerome Thomas playing their part in ending a seven-match winless drought. Thomas gave Palace a torrid time with his strong, direct runs down the left, while Tate was solid at the back alongside Tom Lees. Leeds manager Neil Warnock felt his side were well worth the win and praised his deadline day loan signings. “I am absolutely delighted for the new owners. We deserved the win over the 90 minutes,” he said. “We started the game very well and had to hang in there at times but our two new lads made the difference. Alan Tate is a good pro. “He had a calming influence on us at the back and Jerome Thomas is as good as anyone in the Premier League, let alone the Championship. “We needed the lift in confidence those two have given us.” Leeds keeper Paddy Kenny had to complete a double save from Jonathan Parr and Glenn Murray in the first half but Palace lacked their usual cutting edge. Damien Delaney had already been booked for diving and when his Palace team-mate Wilfried Zaha also went down easily inside the box, Leeds midfielder David Norris squared up to him and was pushed aside by Zaha in an unsavoury incident on the half-time whistle. All three goals came in a tension-packed second half. Becchio hooked in the first after a defensive mix-up, the Argentinian grabbing his 11th goal of the season in the 52nd minute, before Green volleyed his first goal for the club when Palace failed to deal with Tate’s free-kick. Palace were given hope by Ramage’s 86th minute header but their late onslaught failed to produce an equaliser. “You have to give Leeds credit,” Palace boss Ian Holloway said. “They looked like the Leeds of old in the first 20 minutes by coming at us. We came through that period but didn’t get the breaks.

Leeds 1 Wolves 0

Leeds boss Neil Warnock kicked off his bid for an eighth career promotion with victory as his side made a winning start to a season for the first time since they beat Exeter in 2009.Luciano Becchio’s 18th-minute diving header sealed maximum points for a new-look United side sporting eight league debutants for the club.
That statistic was maintained when the injured Paul Green was replaced by El Hadji Diouf just before the break.Yet Warnock saw his side dominate for an hour, albeit with just the one goal to show for it.Ross McCormack was the provider, racing free down the left on to new keeper Paddy Kenny’s raking clearance and whipping in a cross that skipped across goal and found an unmarked Becchio at the back post.Leeds struggled to maintain their shape in the second half and although Wolves did not create a clear-cut chance, the hosts were glad of the final whistle.Warnock said: “They deserve a lot of credit. We have a few niggles around the place and when you looked at our players and theirs, we were half the size of them, so we’ve done well.

“You have to do what we did. The Championship is obviously a different league to the top level.“The players loved the atmosphere and playing in front of a big crowd. That was something I didn’t think we had about us last year.”

Leeds lost a club record 11 home games last season and Warnock, who took over from Simon Grayson in February, spent most of the second half of the season promising opposition managers they would never again encounter one of his sides that was so bad.

The way his new crop began certainly indicated he would be true to his word, with Leeds doing all the running and, at large, creating most of the chances.

Six minutes had gone when Luke Varney skewed over after McCormack pulled the ball back for him, before Rodolph Austin had a header blocked on the line and rookie right back Sam Byram shot wide at the end of a long goalmouth melee.

Wolves were moderately threatening in the air and Richard Stearman’s header looked as though it could trouble Kenny until team-mate Sylvan Ebanks-Blake blocked it with his arm.

Less than 60 seconds later, Leeds were ahead as Argentinian striker Becchio made the most of some slack marking.

After a frenetic start a period of calm followed, although Warnock had something to think about when Green limped two minutes before the break to be replaced by Diouf.

Wolves had held a high defensive line throughout the opening half and seemed determined to carry on doing so in the second, although it should have cost them another goal with 53 minutes gone but Varney’s touch evaded him as he broke clear.

Varney was not the only player to show early-season rustiness though, with Wolves debutant Slavomir Peszko’s cross finding no-one after Aidy White’s slip allowed him to break in to the Leeds box.

The introduction of Peszko did pep Wolves up and they started to enjoy more of the ball as a result of his presence, even if it was without hurting Leeds too much.

They had two chances when Ebanks-Blake skinned White and was dragged back on the edge of the box and when Matt Jarvis clipped a shot across goal but their poor start had left them up against it and Leeds saw the game out.

Leeds United Squad Numbers Announced

Leeds United have announced the squad numbers for the coming season with six new recruits figuring in the first 11 numbers.Paddy Kenny has been given the number one shirt, Adam Drury wears three, Jason Pearce will wear five, Paul Green gets the number seven shirt, Rodolph Austin will be eight, and Luke Varney has been allocated 11.Tom Lees also steps into the first 11 numbers with the number four shirt while Luciano Becchio retains the number 10.Aidan White will wear 14 for the new season while Andy Gray is 18 and David Norris 19. Michael Brown will wear number 21 this season and Zac Thompson has been given the number 23 shirt.
Ross McCormack will wear his favoured number 44.

1 PADDY KENNY
2 
3 ADAM DRURY 
4 TOM LEES 
5 JASON PEARCE 
6 
7 PAUL GREEN 
8 RODOLPH AUSTIN 
9 
10 LUCIANO BECCHIO 
11 LUKE VARNEY 
12 JAMIE ASHDOWN 
13 
14 AIDAN WHITE 
15 
16 DANNY PUGH 
17 
18 ANDY GRAY 
19 DAVID NORRIS 
20 
21 MICHAEL BROWN 
22 ROBBIE ROGERS 
23 ZAC THOMPSON
24 PAUL CONNOLLY
44 ROSS McCORMACK

Paul Green Joins Leeeds

Derby County midfielder Paul Green has agreed a deal to join Leeds United on July 1. The 29-year-old has agreed a two-year contract and will formally join up with the club at the start of next month. Paul follows Adam Drury and Jason Pearce into the club as Neil Warnock's summer recruitment drive steps up a gear and becomes the club's third signing of the summer. The Republic of Ireland international, Paul came on as a substitute in the Euro 2012 game against Spain last week, has a wealth of experience and joins the club after making over 140 appearances for Derby County following a four-year stint at Pride Park. Ironically, the Pontefract-born midfielder joined Derby from Doncaster, his final appearance for Rovers coming in the 2008 League One Play-Off final against Leeds at Wembley. United boss Neil Warnock said: "Paul is another player I've been after for a long time, but obviously he was called up by Ireland for the European Championships so we've had to be a bit patient. "I've seen him grow from his days at Doncaster and I'm delighted to have him here. "I've always thought that he is a player who can create goals as well as score them, and he has just the type of attitude we need at Elland Road."

Leeds Target Derby Midfielder

Leeds United target Paul Green hopes to finalise his departure from Derby County later this week, with Middlesbrough and Ipswich also chasing his signature.The Republic of Ireland international has indicated that a deal to take him from Pride Park is imminent after rejecting a new contract with the Rams.Green, 29, is out of contract at the end of next month and will be officially available on a free transfer on July 1, and Leeds are at the centre of another intense tussle to sign him.United staved off competition from Ipswich and Norwich City to sign centre-back Jason Pearce and are also looking to beat three Championship clubs to the signature of Portsmouth right-back Joel Ward.Ipswich and Boro are in the running to land former Doncaster player Green, who has more than 400 senior appearances to his name, and the midfielder wants his future resolved quickly with the possibility of an appearance at Euro 2012 in front of him.Green is one of five players named on standby by Republic coach Giovanni Trapattoni and he will travel to Poland and Ukraine if injuries weaken Ireland’s pool of midfielders before the tournament begins.